On Thursday, July 30, we will bid farewell to two esteemed and treasured colleagues, Carol Morgan and Luke Waltzer.

Carol Morgan

Longtime director of Baruch’s tutoring center, SACC (the Student Academic Consulting Center), Carol has decided to retire from Baruch and go on to other adventures. Carol has supported so many students that we’re going to postpone her farewell party until September 25, when we we’ve had time to invite these alumnae and alumni of SACC to return to say farewell. Her last day on campus will be this Thursday, July 30. Please feel free to stop by her office or to reach out to her virtually. Nidzaida (Nicy) Garcia, who has been the assistant director of SACC for several years, will become the acting director on Monday, August 3.

Carol has been a wonderful friend and colleague for many of us. Her creativity and good sense have been enormously helpful in the lives of many of our students. In addition to the many thousands of students who come in each year seeking help are the 100+ students who work as tutors. Carol has been an extraordinary mentor to them, as have been the members of the staff that she has painstaking assembled and also mentored.

Carol’s departure will be painful but she has built a team that will support our students for years to come. I hope you’ll join me in bidding her farewell at our party in September (details to come).

Dr. Lucas (Luke) Waltzer

Luke Waltzer has provided support for faculty and students at Baruch College since 2002, when he served as an adjunct instructor in the History Department. Thereafter he moved to the Honors College and the Bernard L. Schwartz Institute, where he served as the Assistant Director for Educational Technology starting in 2008. In that role, he developed Blogs@Baruch, a platform that many members of our faculty have used as an alternative course-management system and that many members of our community have used to publish on the web. In 2013 Luke became the inaugural director of Baruch’s Center for Teaching and Learning. He is moving on to a similar role at the new CTL of the CUNY Graduate Center, where he will work directly with the thousands of graduate students that CUNY’s Ph.D. programs send to teach within the university.

At Baruch’s CTL, Luke was asked to work directly with members of our faculty on helping them achieve the goals of their courses. The initial mission of our CTL includes doing this as part of the process of moving more courses to a hybrid or entirely online formats—but no approaches were ruled out. Luke brought to this mission the sensitivities and insights of one who has taught our students and the technical skills and fluency that eased the way for many to experiment in their own classes. By all reports, he (and they) were wonderfully successful. Additionally, since 2013 he has led the development of VOCAT (Video Oral Communication Assessment Tool), a project he will continue to lead in collaboration with Baruch staff.

Luke’s last day at Baruch will be Thursday, July 30. He has been a pleasure to work with. Losing him to the Graduate Center is very sad, but having him within easy consulting distance is a significant advantage. We wish him well!

On Monday, August 3, Professor Kannan Mohan (S/CIS) will assume leadership of Baruch’s CTL as interim director. Kannan worked closely with Luke on course development, and last fall he reported with great enthusiasm to our Faculty Senate on his successful implementation of the first of those courses. He has mentioned how much he has enjoyed the CTL’s seminars, especially the opportunity to learn from colleagues in the other schools. He hopes to build on those experiences and provide similar experiences for other colleagues this year. We anticipate launching a national search for a new director next spring.